Review the construction contract before you sign or break ground.
Most construction disputes are about money and time. Upload the construction contract or subcontract and get a report on the price basis, payment and retainage, pay-if-paid clauses, change orders, delay damages, indemnity, liens, bonds, and termination — each tied to a quote from the document.
- Catch payment, retainage, delay, indemnity, lien, and termination traps before you sign
- Free preview first — unlock the full report for $40
- Covers owner-contractor agreements, subcontracts, and AIA-style contracts
Last reviewed: May 26, 2026 by the BizLeaseCheck Editorial Team. General information, not legal advice.
Construction Subcontract Analysis
A representative construction contract sample report — danger score 96/100, 8 red flags with verbatim evidence quotes, no signup needed.
Compare: AI vs. a construction attorney · vs. doing it yourself
What the construction analyzer checks
The review works through price basis, payment and retainage, change orders, schedule and delay, indemnity and insurance, liens and bonds, warranty and scope, and termination and disputes.
Price basis
Stipulated (lump) sum, cost-plus, or guaranteed maximum price (GMP); whether a cost-plus contract has a real cap; allowances and unit prices.
Payment & retainage
Schedule of values, progress-payment timing and conditions, certification, final payment, retainage percentage, and when retainage is released.
Contingent payment
Pay-if-paid and pay-when-paid clauses that shift the owner’s nonpayment or insolvency risk onto a subcontractor.
Change orders & extras
Written-change-order requirements, pricing and markup limits, whether directed or oral changes are compensable, and claim notice deadlines.
Schedule & delay
Completion date, time-of-the-essence, liquidated damages for delay and whether they are capped, and no-damages-for-delay clauses.
Indemnity & insurance
Broad-form vs intermediate indemnity (anti-indemnity statutes), additional-insured and waiver-of-subrogation requirements, and required coverage.
Liens & bonds
Mechanic’s lien rights, conditional vs unconditional lien waivers, lien-waiver-as-condition-of-payment, and performance and payment bonds.
Warranty & scope
Warranty duration and the correction/callback period, scope and exclusions, allowances, and differing or concealed site conditions.
Termination & disputes
Termination for cause and convenience, cure periods, payment on termination, arbitration, venue, prevailing-party fees, and governing law.
A review that takes your side
A construction contract reads very differently for the party paying for the work than for the party performing it. Choose the Project owner or Contractor/subcontractor perspective and get negotiation points on price, payment timing, retainage, change orders, delay damages, indemnity, lien waivers, bonds, and termination.
Browse the construction contract guidesWhat you get
- A 0–100 danger score with a category-by-category breakdown
- A construction-terms summary: price basis, payment, retainage, change orders, schedule/delay, indemnity, insurance and bonds, lien rights, termination, and governing law
- Prioritized red flags — each tied to a short quote pulled from your own contract
- Key dates: notice to proceed, substantial and final completion, milestones, and change-order, claim, and lien deadlines
- A ready-to-send negotiation email written from your side (project owner or contractor/subcontractor)
How it works
Go deeper: construction contract guides
Source-cited guides on the clauses that decide construction-contract risk.
How to Review a Construction Contract Before You Sign
Most construction disputes are about money and time. Read the contract in the order risk actually shows up: price, payment, changes, schedule, then risk-shifting clauses.
Pay-If-Paid vs Pay-When-Paid Clauses Explained
A contingent-payment clause can mean you only get paid if the owner pays the general contractor — turning the owner’s insolvency into your loss.
Retainage in Construction Contracts Explained
Retainage is money you earned but the payer holds back. The risk is not the percentage — it is how long it is held and what triggers release.
Construction Change Orders and Extras: What to Check
The change-order clause decides whether extra work gets paid. The trap is performing work on a verbal direction the contract says is not compensable.
Liquidated Damages for Construction Delay
Liquidated damages set a per-day price for finishing late. The danger is an uncapped daily rate combined with a schedule you do not fully control.
No-Damages-for-Delay Clauses in Construction
A no-damages-for-delay clause says your only remedy for delay is more time — not money — even when the other side caused the delay.
Construction Indemnity and Additional-Insured Clauses
Indemnity and insurance clauses decide who pays when someone is hurt or property is damaged. Broad-form indemnity for the other party’s own fault is limited in many states.
Mechanic’s Liens and Lien Waivers Explained
A mechanic’s lien is your security for getting paid. A lien waiver can give that security away — sometimes for money you have not received yet.
Performance and Payment Bonds in Construction
Bonds protect the owner and the people downstream — not the contractor that buys them. Know what each bond covers before you agree to provide one.
Stipulated Sum vs Cost-Plus vs GMP Contracts
The price model decides who absorbs a cost overrun. Lump sum, cost-plus, and GMP allocate that risk very differently.
Subcontractor Flow-Down Clauses Explained
A flow-down clause can bind you to a prime contract you have never read — including its schedule, dispute, and risk-shifting terms.
Construction Contract Termination: For Cause and Convenience
How a contract ends decides what you are owed. Termination for cause and for convenience pay very differently — and a wrongful termination can flip liability.
Frequently asked questions
What documents does this cover?
Construction contracts and subcontracts, AIA-style owner-contractor agreements (A101/A201), design-build, and GMP, cost-plus, and stipulated-sum agreements, plus commercial build-out and improvement contracts.
Can it review from both the owner and the contractor side?
Yes. Choose the Project owner or Contractor/subcontractor perspective. The owner view focuses on price certainty, schedule and delay protection, warranty, contractor indemnity, bonds, and lien waivers tied to payment. The contractor view focuses on prompt payment, fair retainage, time extensions, limited indemnity, capped delay damages, and payment on termination.
Is a pay-if-paid clause enforceable?
It depends on the state — some states enforce a clearly written pay-if-paid condition precedent, while others void it as against public policy. The analyzer flags the clause and its risk and recommends review by a construction attorney in the project’s state.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information and document-review prompts. Pay-if-paid, no-damages-for-delay, indemnity, lien and lien-waiver rules, retainage, and prompt-payment rights vary by state and by whether the project is public or private — confirm specifics with a construction attorney before signing.